Nasa announced this Friday (28) that the object known as 3I/Atlas is a comet of interstellar origin. The statement was made by Amit Kshatriya, associate administrator of the North American space agency. The data was obtained when the celestial body passed about 29 million kilometers from probes orbiting Marte.
The confirmation ends weeks of speculation about possible extraterrestrial technology. Observações carried out by agency instruments ruled out any sign of artificial origin. The object presents characteristics typical of natural comets.
The hyperbolic trajectory and high speed already indicated an origin outside of Sistema Solar. Agora, images and spectroscopic analyzes reinforce the classification as the third recorded interstellar comet.
How Nasa came to its conclusion
The HiRISE probe, which orbits Marte, captured detailed images of 3I/Atlas. The photos showed the presence of a tail formed by volatile material heated by the Sol.
The MAVEN mission detected intense hydrogen emissions in the region close to the object. Esse element is released when water ice sublimes in the vacuum of space.
The combined data allowed the scientific team to confirm that it is an active cometary nucleus.
Unusual chemical composition
3I/Atlas has an extremely high proportion of carbon dioxide in relation to water. Essa characteristic is rare among comets observed to date in Sistema Solar.
Spectrographic analyzes also identified high levels of nickel in relation to iron. Esse imbalance suggests training in an environment very different from ours.
These particularities indicate that the comet originated in the outer regions of another star system.
Context of interstellar objects
The first confirmed interstellar object was 1I/ʻOumuamua, in 2017. Ele showed no visible cometary activity and generated intense discussions.
In 2019, 2I/Borisov was identified as the first interstellar comet. Apresentou light tail and composition closer to local comets.
3I/Atlas thus becomes the third confirmed body with origin outside of Sistema Solar. Sua passage offers a new opportunity to study planetary formation in other systems.
Observations carried out on Marte
The probes in Martian orbit were favorably positioned during the approach. The minimum recorded distance was approximately 29 million kilometers.
None of the spacecraft suffered interference or trajectory changes. The instruments continued to operate normally throughout the period.
The relative proximity allowed data collection that would not have been possible from Terra.
Scientific importance of the find
The study of 3I/Atlas contributes to the understanding of formation processes in distant stellar systems. The chemical composition serves as a record of the conditions present in the original protoplanetary disk.
Researchers highlight that each interstellar object brings unique information. Essas observations help compare our Sistema Solar’s chemistry with that of others.
The comet’s passage poses no risk to Terra or current space missions.
